Hey, everybody! Dr. Makenshi here! This is my first fanfiction posted here in honor of the Monty Oum Project, so I would just like to welcome you to "Aura and The Void".

Disclaimer: Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix own Kingdom Hearts and Rooster Teeth own RWBY.

Aura and The Void

As far as Roxas's memory served, today started out pretty normal.

Despite another batch of strange dreams, Roxas thought that the morning had started out the same as any other day during summer break. Wake up, get dressed, and head to the "Usual Spot", as we like to call it. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were already there, deep in the middle of a conversation about the intricacies of Struggle fighting, apparently not even noticing him enter.

"Man, I could not sleep last night…" Roxas muttered, trying to announce his presence, but not even getting an acknowledgment. Maybe they didn't hear me, he thought. Roxas raised up a hand to smack Hayner on the shoulder when it happened.

Hayner turned around and ran straight through Roxas like he wasn't even there!

What!?

Pence and Olette moved to follow Hayner out of the hangout and Roxas threw his arms out to stop them. Roxas did nothing to stop them and felt nothing as they passed. No sense of friction, warmth, or even a presence. Simply nothing. Glancing at the mess of paper and knick-knacks on the desk, he spotted the old picture of all of them in front of the Old Mansion. However, something was missing, something crucial to him. Where am I? I should be right behind Pence! Despite the shock of everything that was happening, Roxas was desperately trying to figure out what was going on. What is happening? Am I still dreaming? Yeah, that has gotta be the explanation. Roxas decided to follow them outside and was greeted by the last person he wanted to see, real or in a dream.

Axel.

As skinny as he was tall, Axel's figure appeared from the dark portal, the dark black coat serving to mix him in with the dark wisps of energy still coming off the portal. Removing the hood with a carefree swipe of one hand, hair styled in the manner and color of dancing flames was uncovered. Two small purple teardrop tattoos under the eyes added to the look of mischief and superiority on his face as he stared down at Roxas. A small flick of Axel's hand was all that was needed to summon two monsters to block Roxas' paths of escape.

Cornered by two strange, silver beings and confronted by this psychopath was very low on the list of what Roxas was expecting to happen today.

"Look at what it's come to," Axel purred. "I've been given these icky orders to destroy you if you refuse to come back with me."

Yeah, you seem truly broken up about the matter, Roxas thought sarcastically. Still, getting destroyed really didn't seem like the most pleasant option. Maybe I can talk my way out of this, Namine said we used to be best friends, so…

"We're…best friends, right?" Roxas said hopefully.

"Sure, but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for you," he said before stopping himself. His eyes lit up in some imitation of surprise as he continued, "Wait a sec! You remember now?"

"Yeah", Roxas muttered. I might just make it out of here alive.

"Great! Axel exclaimed before he gained a somewhat thoughtful expression. "But, you know, gotta make sure and all. So um…what's our boss's name?"

I may have gotten ahead of myself. Roxas couldn't remember anything from back in his so-called days working for Organization XIII. He must have taken too long to answer because Axel took one look at his face and began to shake his head, trying to act as if in pain.

"Can't believe this…" Axel muttered. Well, that answer doesn't seem good to me. Grabbing a nearby stick off the ground, Roxas tried to pour every ounce of his focus into imagining the twig turn into a keyblade. Come on, please work! Feeling his focus reach its peak, Roxas saw the twig begin to give off pieces of light before feeling the rough wood in his hand turn into a smooth, steel grip and the light begin to form the basic shape of a keyblade before solidifying. Not even taking a second to glance at the weapon he now held, Roxas lunged at the nearest creature. If I am going to go out, I am going out fighting!, he thought as a surge of adrenaline ran through him, feeling both foreign and welcoming. It felt as if the keyblade led him into the fight, launching three quick strikes at one of the silver monsters.

Despite Roxas' relative inexperience with the weapon, the third strike had cut the monster clean in half, dissolving the body into a strange grey dust before disappearing. In his utter shock at victory, Roxas hardly noticed the creature's companion coming up behind him, ready to strike. Sensing the creature's attack, only a second before it landed, he swept low under the attack and came out right behind it. Pushing the advantage, he launched another three strikes at the creature, who then died in the same manner as the first.

Axel, who seemed less than pleased at Roxas' small victory, gave a small wave of his hand. Roxas glanced in shock at the vortex of grey and silver that came up from the ground, revealing a monster that was similar, but different, than the first two. The monster seemed to have sharp spikes jutting out of all of its appendages and appeared much more lethal. The second difference became apparent when the creature launched itself into the ground, leaving a ripple across the ground.

Where did it go? Roxas glanced around and finally spotted two spike arms jutting out of the ground, perfectly poised to strike him in the back. Reacting on instinct, he grabbed both of its arms in one hand, wrenching the creature from the ground, smashing it into the dirt, and then stabbing it with the keyblade for good measure.

Axel was definitely not happy now, a fierce glare forming on his face. Throwing both of his hands back, a vortex of red flames and black thorns formed around each hand, solidifying into a pair of red and silver chakrams. As Axel readied his first strike, Roxas got in position to fight for his life before noticing something strange. Mid-windup, Axel appeared to be frozen, the glare still stuck on his face and body poised to strike. What else is going to happen today!?

Two seconds later, a booming voice seemed to reverberate down from the sky, filling Roxas with a sense of hope and dread at the same time.

"Roxas, to the mansion. The time has come."

Barely taking a second to think, Roxas ran straight toward the mansion, considering it the safer option when compared to fighting Axel. He ran as fast as possible, barely stopping to fight any of the strange creatures that appeared to try to stop him, but instead he chose to just bat them away and continue on his way.

Reaching the gate of the mansion, Roxas was shocked to learn that the gate was locked. He shook the gate, hoping that the lock would simply break due to old age, but nothing happened. Three weird sounds, similar to a small hurricane, sounded off behind, alerting him to turn around just in time to see three silver creatures erupt from the ground. "Don't call me and then lock me out…" Roxas muttered, angered at the false hope he had been provided.

The keyblade, however, seemed to have an idea of what to do now. In Roxas' hands, it shook relentlessly before bringing itself level with the keyhole on the gate. To his utter shock, a small beam of light shot from the tip of the blade at the lock, a clicking sound was all that could be heard as the lock vanished in a shower of light. Roxas barely took a second to consider this revelation as he charged through the gates and into the dilapidated foyer of the mansion. Thinking of the one person that he knew of in the mansion, he headed straight up the stairs and into the room of his one potential ally.

Namine.

The white drawing room was still as unnerving as ever. The stark white interior was a clear contrast to the rest of the mansion with its dirty interior and broken furniture. The only bits of color were the small crayon drawings posted on the wall, each one with a different story to tell. However, as Roxas wandered around the room, he was drawn to a small portrait by the fireplace.

The picture appeared to feature a dark city devoid of light. The only other part of the picture was the small figure, dressed in black and with a full head of blond hair, seemingly walking away from the area. The longer Roxas stared at it, the more a headache began to develop, eventually sending him to the ground as he was bombarded by an array of images that made him cry out in a scream of pure pain and revelation.

These were my memories.

It all came back to Roxas like a flash. Waking up with no memories of his existence, being introduced to the Organization, training with all of the members, evenings spent on the clock tower with Axel and sea-salt ice-cream, and leaving after being betrayed. Leaving Axel behind.

Oh god, what have I done. He was my best friend and I have been treating him like a homicidal maniac. At least know I can understand why he appears so angry…

"Organization XIII…it's a bad group," Roxas said regretting his decisions from the past.

"Bad or good, I don't know," a soft voice said from across the room, making him turn around to face the one person who could tell him the truth, Namine. Dressed in a pure white gown and featuring skin and hair so light that could have blended into the room, Namine could appear to be the personification of an angel, ethereal and innocent. These two concepts contrasted sharply with her previous actions.

"They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something," Namine intoned, sounding completely neutral on the subject.

"I know. Kingdom Hearts. I remember everything, Namine. The question is: Why did I forget?", Roxas asked, the volume and venom of his voice escalating with each word. With the return of his memories had come a shift in attitude. They had programmed him to act how they wanted, but now his true "personality" was beginning to shine through.

The gasp that followed his question was a sign that he was never supposed to remember. "Roxas, you have to understand, we needed you to see reason and to listen to us. When we captured you, you were in a highly emotional state and would never listen…" "I WONDER WHY!?"

The look on Roxas' face and the tone of his voice scared Namine into silence. "You and your cohorts attacked me, beat me, erased my memories, and made me live a lie, all just so that you could get what you wanted. Now, I want you to tell me what your goals were," Roxas demanded, the keyblade flashing into existence in his right hand due to his anger.

Namine appeared to take a second to think before she answered, "We needed you to recombine with Sora to speed up his recovery. He was injured while exploring Castle Oblivion and has been in a coma like state ever since."

"You said 'speed up', not heal. Does that mean that he will wake up on his own?"

"Originally, we thought he would not. However, just from you being in this simulation has caused Sora to recover on his own. He is nearly awake know, but DiZ thought we could not wait any longer for him to wake up," Namine answered, a false look of sadness capturing her entire face.

"Hold on, who is DiZ?" Roxas demanded before a dark corridor appeared behind Namine, with an unsettling figure making its entrance. A man was draped in a mass of red robes with a large amount of red belts crisscrossing his face. The only distinct feature that Roxas could make out was a repugnant smirk and an orange eye that appeared to stare right through him. The figure quickly wrapped an arm around Namine's throat and pulled her away with a small shriek.

"I am DiZ," the shadowy figure intoned, his voice low and full of condescension. I can already tell that I should hate this guy. "You, pitiful Nobody, have no right to exist and your only purpose is to recombine with Sora. You will fulfill this purpose, whether you like it or not. It is simply the fate of a Nobody." With those parting words, DiZ dragged Namine back into the portal and disappeared before Roxas could even lunge forward. Namine's last words echoed out of the corridor freezing him in place.

"You won't disappear. You'll be whole again," and with that they were both gone.

Great. Although he was still angry, Roxas tried to think about all the information he had just been given. Sora, his Somebody, was injured and they wanted him to recombine with him. This could only happen by giving up his existence. That is not about to happen, I am me. Nobody else! Secondly, Namine had mentioned being put in a simulation. This could only mean that Roxas needed to escape to the real world before he could be free of DiZ's intentions.

Okay, if this is a simulation, then there has to be a control room, just like back at the Castle. If I can find how they put me in here, I can theoretically use it to get out.

Roxas spent the next half hour, searching for a control room before finding a secret entrance to the basement behind a bookshelf in the library. The passage way was a stark contrast to the mansion, appearing to be free of all dust and having many advanced facets of technology. He continued to explore abandoned hallways, some in states of disrepair while others looked to have been recently closed, before coming to an open area.

Roxas had just started to walk towards the exit on the other side of the room when a corridor appeared in the center of the room. Axel walked out, his arms crossed and a neutral expression on his face, saying, "Simply amazing, Roxas."

"Axel," Roxal said trying to pour every one of his non-existent emotions into the word. He wanted to say "I'm sorry" and "I understand", but that was all he could say.

"You really do remember me this time?" Axel said, calmness changing to anger. "I'm So FLATTERED! But You're Too LATE!"

With a wave of Axel's hands, the room became engulfed in flames, forming a large circle around us and keeping us in the room. Another wave from Axel was all it took to bring forth his chakrams.

I guess we really do have to fight. I'm sorry I made it come to this. Calling on his reawakened memories, Roxas brought forth a keyblade in each hand before twirling them together. A surge of energy sprang through him and into the keyblades, transforming them into his ultimate weapons. In his left hand was a keyblade that appeared to be composed of pure light and boosted his own magic powers, the Oathkeeper. In his right hand, a keyblade of pure darkness formed, Oblivion, which would boost his attack power.

The sight of Roxas wielding two keyblades momentarily stunned Axel with him declaring "TWO!" Pressing this moment of shock, Roxas lunged forth swinging his keyblades in an alternating manner before being blocked by Axel's weapons and being forced to use his keyblades to block the oncoming barrage of swings and throws of the chakrams. Each block pushed Roxas farther back and took part of his breath away. Looking back, Roxas noticed that two more blocks of the swings would send him straight into the wall of flames.

Jumping into the air, Roxas dodged the next throw of the chakrams and launched himself at Axel, delivering a cross slash to his undefended torso. Feeling pain and anger swell within him, Axel unleashed a burst of flames that covered the surrounding area with fixtures of fire, instantly burning Roxas' feet in the process. At this time, Axel launched himself into the wall of fire.

Where did he go? Roxas wondered while trying to look for Axel through the flames. Without a sound of warning, Roxas barely saw a flash of red headed towards him. Barely reacting in time, he was able to dodge out of the way of Axel's strike, but not without earning a slash across the side of the face from the tip of Axel's weapon. Axel never even seemed to stop, diving straight back into the wall of fire.

Okay, that hurt! At least I know what he is planning to do now. Roxas got into a ready positon and waited for the next strike to come. Axel began to dart back and forth, his chakrams out and ready to slash him at any second, hoping to catch him in a blind spot. Roxas started to roll into a dodge, attempting to remain agile enough to avoid the attacks while also remaining moving.

After several minutes of dodging, with his energy waning due to the previous attacks, the flames from the floor, and the reawakening of his memories, Roxas noticed that a small shimmer would appear in the wall just before Axel would appear. Considering it his last chance in his weakened state, Roxas rolled towards the fixture, rolling directly under Axel's attacks and popping up behind him with just enough time to sweep both keyblades into his back, launching him into the air. Following suit, Roxas launched himself into the air and delivered a devastating cross slash to his chest. The force caused Axel to scream while being rocketed back onto the ground. The force was enough to knock the chakrams from his hands and cause the surrounding flames to splutter out, signaling Roxas' victory.

Seeing that he had won, Roxas walked towards the downed man.

"Axel…" he said, memories of their last true encounter playing through his mind.

"You can't leave the organization. You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you!"

"No one would miss me."

"That's not true…I would."

You honestly only wanted to save me didn't you… Roxas thought as he stared at his fallen friend.

"Let's meet again in the next life," Axel muttered, just loud enough for Roxas to hear.

Roxas answered without a second thought, "Sure".

Axel gives out one more smirk before pulling a smaller version of the Organization's coat out and throwing it to Roxas. As Roxas caught it, he recognizes the design and cut off his old coat.

"Silly, just because you have a next life…" with those final words a dark corridor appears below Axel, swallowing him up, but not before he forms a small corridor behind Roxas.

With Axel's disappearance, the corridor below him too disappeared, but leaving the corridor behind Roxas intact. Roxas stared at the corridor for a few seconds before realizing what Axel had left him.

A way out. Knowing that Roxas could not form corridors in the simulation, Axel had made a corridor for him to manipulate. Raising his hand, Roxas channeled the magic within him and poured it into the corridor, watching it bend and lighten to a light gray due to the influx of his own dark and light magic. To Roxas putting on his old coat was like welcoming an old friend, much more comfortable than the clothes he had worn in the simulation and much better for battle. Roxas had gave the corridor no exact world to lead him to, hoping that this would keep both the Organization and DiZ from finding him, but also caused a high probability of ending up on an unknown world.

Not that that is a whole lot of worlds to start with. Best not to waste this golden opportunity. With these thoughts in hand, Roxas marched into the corridor with no fear and what could be possibly be called hope.

Where am I? This was Roxas' immediate thought as he returned to consciousness. Apparently, altering an already formed corridor left it extremely unstable. Just two steps into the portal, he was knocked unconscious by the turbulence of the corridor. Best to keep that in mind for the future.

Looking around at his surroundings, Roxas appeared to be in a small forest clearing. The grass was bright green, with small flowers beginning to bloom, and small bushes and tall trees surrounding the area.

Okay, a forest. That certainly tells me a lot about this world. As this sarcastic thought finished in Roxas' head, a growling sound began to come from the opposite side of the clearing. From a group of large bushes, a large black creature began to emerge. The creature had the general shape of a bear, but appeared to be much larger. What really stood out about the creature was its glowing red eyes and the large bone-like spikes that jutted out of its back, the same material forming the creature's deadly sharp teeth. Sadly, this was not the worst part about this encounter.

Those eyes and teeth were pointed directly at him.

Just my luck…

Author's Note: And that's a wrap, well at least for Chapter 1. I look forward to everybody's feedback on this. Love it? Hate it? Let me know. Also, if any Betas read this and are interested in being a Beta for this story, drop me a review or a PM and I'll get back to you. See you guys next time in "Aura and The Void".

This is Dr. Makenshi, signing off.